Partition bullets



7 Oct. 10, 1961 J. A. NOSLER 3,003,420

PARTITION BULLETS Original Filed Oct. 1, 1956 INVENTOR.

John A. Nos/er 3,003,429 Patented Oct; 10, 19 51 3,0 l3,420 PARTITION BULLETS John A. Nosler, Ashland, Greg, assignor to Nosler Partition Bullet Company, Ashland, Greg. Original application Oct. 1, 1956, Ser. No. 613,025. Di-

vided and this application July 31, 1959, Ser. No.

Claims. (Cl. 102-91) The present invention relates to improvements in bullets. This application is a division of my application, Ser. No. 613,025, filed October 1, 1956, for Bullet Making.

In providing a satisfactory bullet for rifles which may be fired safely and truly from the rifle and which will exert a maximum killing effect on the target, several problems are involved. The common lead bullet comprising nothing more than a slug of lead shaped into a projectile is so soft that upon explosion of the charge in the cartridge, the bullet is deformed and expanded by the gas pressure and tends to wedge in the rifle barrel, thus reducing both its velocity and accuracy. Such a bullet also deforms readily upon striking the target, thus reducing its penetration. To overcome these difficulties, bullet manufacturers have produced bullets having hardened jackets of copper or other material. Such bullets, however, are not wholly satisfactory since they do not readily deform upon contact with the target, and tend to pass through the target without doing too much damage, thus exerting only a small shocking effect and allowing the target, if it is living, to continue relatively unaffected for a time.

It is the purpose of this invention to produce a bullet which is so constructed that it may expand slightly upon explosion of its motivating charge whereby to cushion the explosion and prevent gas leakage, and yet will not expand unduly and impair the velocity and accuracy of travel, and so that it will not disintegrate so completely upon impact as to unduly impair penetration, yet will distort sufficiently to produce a great shocking power upon the target.

I have found that a bullet which comprises a copper jacket having a partition therein intermediate its ends dividing the jacket into forward and rearward compartments and having lead slugs seated in the compartments, has the desired characteristics just described. Such a bullet properly produced, has sufficient resistance to expansion due to the strength of the copper jacket to insure proper travel through the rifle barrel, and yet, the lead slug in the rear compartment of the bullet jacket produces the desired cushioning effect upon explosion of the charge. The rear lead being wholly confined in the rear compartment, will not disintegrate upon impact and will produce satisfactory penetration. The front lead, however, will disintegrate and produce the desired shocking effect. In addition, the forward portion of the jacket will split'and fold back in petal-like sections to increase the shocking power of the bullet.

The nature and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred form of the invention is shown. It should be understood, however, that the description and drawings are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the invention except insofar as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a cross sectional view of the finished bullet;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of the finished bullet;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of the bullet after firing, illustrating the riding grooves; and

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view of the bullet after impact, illustrating the manner in which the front portion of the jacket splits and folds back.

My improved partitioned jacket bullet 10 is formed of a section of copper tubing and two slugs of relatively soft lead. In making the bullet a section of copper tubing is cut to a length slightly longer than the desired length of the finished jacket. After the tubing has been cut to the desired length, it is upset or deformed in such a way that a partition 11 is produced intermediate the front end and the rear end of the tubing. This construction provides a front pocket 12 and a rear pocket 13 within the jacket 10a into which lead slugs 15 and 16 are inserted. When the slugs 15 and 16 are in place, the jacket 10a is pressed into a projectile shape to form the finished bullet 10.

. It is a well known fact that cold working copper hardens the copper. To form the partition 11, the metal of the jacket 10a is upset adjacent to the partition area and confined exteriorly to cause it to flow inward to form the partition 11. Since the hardening is proportional to the metal distortion, the partition 11 is hardened more than the wall 12a of the front pocket 12 or the wall 13a of the rear pocket 13. There is a progressive thickening of the bullet jacket from a very thin soft front to a graceful curve flowing into the harder metal at the partition. This is done to make the wall 12a split under impact in a controlled manner. After the lead slug 16 is set in place, the wall 131; is crimped in to hold it. The lead slug 15 is also put in the front pocketllnl'hehnletisfi then swaged into final shape, the lead slug 15 flowing out to form the lead nose portion 15a of the bullet and the rear end of the wall 13a being turned in as indicated at 13b.

With the finished bullet 10 formed as described, the jacket 10a varies in hardness throughout its length, due to the varying amounts of cold working at the several points. The hardest portion of the jacket 10a is the portion immediately adjacent to and including the partition 11. This portion of the metal experiences the most distortion. The front portion of the jacket 10a surrounding the front lead 15 is the softest portion of the jacket, it having received the least working. The portion of the jacket 10a surrounding the rear lead 16 is also relatively soft, since the wall 13a of the rear pocket 13 experiences only an ironing during the upsetting operation. The rear edge 13b, however, is considerably hardened, since it receives considerable working in being crimped over the rear lead 16.

Since the hardest portion of the jacket 10a is that portion adjacent the partition 11, and since the entire cross section of the bullet 10 is hardened copper at this point, I have found it necessary to cut a relief band such as indicated at 17 in the surface of the jacket around the partition 11.

The relief band 17 is tapered slightly from the front edge 17a to the rear edge 17b, the front portion being cut deepest. The purpose of the relief band 17 is to eliminate the necessity of forcing the hardened and uncushioned portion of the jacket ltla through the rifling of the gun barrel when the bullet 19 is fired. The band 17 is therefore cut deep enough at the front edge 17a that the rifling ridges in the gun barrel will engage the band in the case of a maximum size barrel and will not evenly engage the band when the bullet is used in a minimum size barrel. This relief band 17, being located at the strongest part of the bullet where there is no possibility of distortion, insures constant perfect position in the barrel. The existence of the recess 17 also reduces friction without lessening support. The relatively soft portion of the jacket 10a rearward of the band 17 is not 3 reduced in diameter, so it is fully engaged by the rifling, as is illustrated in FIGURE 2.

My improved partitioned jacket bullet 10, produced as hereinbefore described, provides an extremely satisfactory game bullet. The copper jacket 1011 provide: the necessary resistance to expansion upon firing and the lead slugs and 16 provides the necessary cushioning and disintegrating effects. It will be noted that the walls of the front and rear pockets 12 and 13 taper in such a manner that they thicken as they approach the partition, in smooth flowing curves, thereby increasing in Strength adjacent the partition 11. With this construction the mushrooming or folding back of the soft front portion of the jacket 10:: upon impact is controlled to produce the maximum shocking effect. The increased thickness of the front Wall adjacent the partition prevents the petals of metal from folding back too tightly or breaking oif, thereby maintaining a maximum diameter for maximum shocking effect. The thickened walls of the rear pocket 13 adjacent the partition 11 prevent the rear lead 16 from expanding too much or breaking through, as it is driven forward upon explosion of the charge behind it. With the particular construction described, there are no sharp corners to encourage cracking or breaking, either upon firing or upon impact, so the bullet 10 maintains a unitary structure throughout its use.

It should be understood, of course, that while I have shown the partition 11 formed substantially centrally of the ends of the jacket 10a, it may be formed either forwardly or rearwardly of this point to adapt the bullet 10 for different purposes. To increase the penetration and reduce the shocking power of the bullet 16, the partition 11 may be moved forwardly. To increase the shocking power and reduce penetration, it may be moved rearwardly. In any case, the construction and operation of the bullet 10 are substantially the same.

It is believed that the value and advantages of the invention appear clearly from the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A bullet comprising a tubular jacket having a partition therein intermediate its ends dividing the jacket into front and rear pockets, the Walls of the front pocket being radially tapered with increasing wall thickness from the front end rearwardly toward the partition, a lead slug in the front pocket having a nose portion protruding from the open end thereof, and a second lead slug in the rear pocket, the rear end of the jacket being crimped over the second lead slug, said jacket being of greater hardness adjacent the partition than at its ends and having a circumferential recess included in the outer surface adjacent said partition.

2. A bullet comprising a tubular jacket having a partition therein intermediate its ends dividing the jacket into front and rear pockets, the Walls of the front pocket being radially tapered with increasing Wall thickness from the front end rearwardly toward the partition, a lead slug in the front pocket having a nose portion protruding from the open end thereof, and a second lead slug in the rear pocket, the rear end of the jacket being crimped over the second lead slug, said jacket being of greater hardness adjacent the partition than at its ends and including a circumferential recess in the outer surface thereof adjacent said partition, said recess being tapered in a fore and aft direction with the forwardmost portion deeper than the rearmost portion.

3. A bullet jacket comprising a tubular body having a partition intermediate its ends dividing the jacket into front and rear pockets adapted to be filled with a softer filling, the Walls of the front pocket being radially tapered with increasing wall thickness toward the partition, the partition and adjacent sections being of greater hardness than the ends.

4. A bullet jacket comprising a tubular body having a partition intermediate its ends dividing the jacket into front and rear pockets adapted to be filled with a softer filling, the walls of the front pocket being radially tapered with increasing wall thickness toward the partition,.the partition and adjacent portions of the jacket being of greater hardness than the end portions, and a circumferential recess included in the outer surface of the jacket around the partition.

5. A bullet jacket comprising a tubular body having a partition intermediate its ends dividing the jacket into front and rear pockets adapted to be filled with a softer filling, the walls of the front pocket being radially tapered with increasing wall thickness toward the partition, the partition and adjacent portions of the jacket being of greater hardness than the end portions, and a circumferential recess included in the outer surface of the jacket around the partition, said recess being tapered in a fore and aft direction with the forwardmost portion deeper than the rearmost portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES The American Rifieman, November 1949, page relied on. 

